Mobile Terminal with Call Function or Texting Function, or a Function as a Game Terminal, and Game Program and Game Method Executed by Mobile Terminal

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a mobile terminal with a call function or a texting function. The present invention controls the use of a mobile terminal by a manual operation because of an incoming call during movement. Location information indicating movement of a mobile terminal with a call or a message data exchange function is received by a GPS receiver, the distance and the movement speed are determined by using the measurement information of the two locations at every predetermined time, and whether or not the mobile terminal is moving in accordance with the movement speed is determined by a movement determination unit. When it is determined by the movement determination unit that the mobile terminal is moving, the display of incoming call information indicating an incoming call is set to non-displayed on the display unit, and at the same time, a notification sound from a speaker, etc. is invalid.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of, and claims priority from,U.S. application Ser. No. 16/843,237 filed Apr. 8, 2020, the contents ofwhich are incorporated by reference. That application is a continuationof, and claims priority from, U.S. application Ser. No. 16/577,091 filedSep. 20, 2019, the contents of which are incorporated by reference. Thatapplication is a continuation of, and claims priority from, U.S.application Ser. No. 16/205,352 filed Nov. 30, 2018, the contents ofwhich are incorporated by reference. That application is a continuationof, and claims priority from, U.S. application Ser. No. 15/923,549 filedMar. 16, 2018 (U.S. Pat. No. 10,179,292), the contents of which areincorporated by reference. That application is a continuation of, andclaims priority from, application Ser. No. 15/584,176 filed May 2, 2017(U.S. Pat. No. 9,925,467), the contents of which are incorporated byreference. That application, in turn, is a continuation-in-part of, andclaims priority from, U.S. application Ser. No. 15/222,271 filed Jul.28, 2016 (U.S. Pat. No. 9,730,181), the contents of which areincorporated by reference. This application and the precedingapplications claim the priority benefit of Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2016-139307 filed Jul. 14, 2016, the contents of which areincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal such as a featurephone, smartphone, and tablet, etc. with a call function that enablesdata communication and calling, or a texting function.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the recent years, smartphones have become popular with a wide rangeof people from children to the elderly, due to a large amount ofinformation to be displayed as compared to feature phones, the spread ofuser-friendly applications, and easy character input by screen touchoperations, for example, swiping, etc. Further, due to itsuser-friendliness, a smartphone user uses a smartphone not only as ameans of conveying important matters as in the past, but as a means oflaid-back communication, such as chatting and frequently sending instantmessages that tweet only one's mood at that point of time. Therefore,from the standpoint of the receiving side of the smartphone user, thefrequency of incoming calls that require communication, or the receptionof messages such as e-mails during walking, or during movement bybicycle or car (hereinafter, appropriately called a “vehicle”) hasincreased significantly.

Further, in order not to displease the sender, the receiver tries tomaintain the continuity of communication. Therefore, every time a callis received, the receiver tends to immediately answer the call, or replyto an e-mail. That is, the receiver operates the smartphone even duringwalking, or during movement by bicycle or car. Therefore, as a result ofusing smartphones during movement, the frequency of occurrence of acollision between pedestrians and between a pedestrian and vehicle, anda collision accident between vehicles, and derailing has also increased.The present invention focuses on the point that the continuity ofcommunication takes effect passively, as the truth of human beings, andforces the user of the mobile terminal to continue with a call or gameduring movement, or create a reply e-mail and texting document. As aprior application made with a purpose of restricting the use of a cellphone while walking, an application is present in the JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-298690; however, theapplication attempts to restrict an operation during walking, and didnot restrict the passive reaction of a user to a contact via an e-mailreceived from a third person and SNS (Social Networking Service) asdescribed above, a call, or a game scenario having interactive elementsand executed by a controller of the mobile terminal on the basis of agame program.

Such problems have become social problems, such as problems affectinghuman lives, particularly in countries where the means of transportationhas developed and thoroughfares are packed with people, for example, aperson may lose footing and fall on a railway track, which leads to thedelay of the transportation by causing trains to stop, or a collisionbetween bicycles.

Further, as another usage, smartphones are used as social games.

It is noted that a method and system of restricting calling duringmovement by vehicle have been proposed and implemented in cell phones(feature phones) prior to the launch of smartphones. For example, if acall is received on the cell phone of the driver or a fellow passengerduring movement by vehicle, the location is measured twice, that is, atthe time of receiving a call and after the lapse of a predetermined time(after five seconds) by a GPS (Global positioning system). The distancetraveled and the movement speed is calculated from the measurementresult, and it is determined whether or not the receiver is moving byvehicle. If the determination result indicates that the receiver ismoving, the incoming call is ended after the cell phone has rung onlyfor a predetermined time, and the receiver is thus prevented from takingthe call (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2007-19674).

However, according to the conventional method and system, it is fearedthat if an incoming call is notified by a ring during the movement byvehicle, the driver may operate the mobile terminal either while movingor by bringing the vehicle to a sudden stop in order to maintain thecontinuity of communication.

Further, it is also possible to set the cell phone to a non-ringingmode, by a manual operation, before moving by vehicle, but the incomingcall history is retained on the screen. Therefore, even if the cellphone does not ring, a person who frequently uses the e-mail, chatfunction etc. may constantly check the incoming call history displayedon the screen of the cell phone, and thus there is a possibility to losethe safety during movement.

In addition, if such a system is set in the cell phone by default, itcould result in inconvenience whereby calling and operation of the cellphone of fellow passengers other than the driver would also berestricted.

Further, in the method described in the Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2007-19674 specified above, the use of theGPS, depending on the precision of the GPS, may cause another technicalproblem that it is extremely difficult to be able to accurately detectthe movement within a period of five seconds, in the case of movementaccompanied by walking or vehicles that move slowly such as bicycles.Such a system may be useful when moving in the Shinkansen, cars, bikes,or buses.

In addition, there is a problem that, when playing a game on thesmartphone, the end time of the game and the timing when the user needsto move do not match, or they are difficult to be matched, and thus,even though the user of the cell phone remains stationary and plays agame, if the user faces a situation where the user has to move beforethe end of the game, the user had no choice but to move while playingthe game.

The present invention has been achieved in view of the above-describedproblems, and an object thereof is to provide a mobile terminal with acall function or a texting function by which it is possible to preventan owner of the mobile terminal from using, by a manual operation, themobile terminal during the movement. With a method of using GPS for amaximum movement speed of 20 km/h or less, such as in the case ofwalking or riding a bicycle, it is difficult to instantly determinewhether the mobile terminal is moving, and thus, the present inventionparticularly relates to a mobile terminal with a call function or atexting function that is suitable for such movement and a program of acell phone that is controlled in cooperation with the function of thecell phone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a mobile terminal with a call function ora texting function, or a function as a game terminal, and a game programand a game method executed by downloading to the mobile terminal.

A mobile terminal that is capable of performing data communication andcalling, comprising:

a first communication means of calling and exchanging data;

a display means of displaying various types of information;

a notification means of notifying an incoming call;

a movement information acquisition means of acquiring informationindicating movement of the mobile terminal;

a movement determination means of determining whether or not the mobileterminal is moving on the basis of information acquired by the movementinformation acquisition means; and

a control means of setting a display of an incoming call or receptioninformation indicating an incoming call or reception in a non-displayedmanner on the display means, when the mobile terminal is determined tobe moving by the movement determination means.

According to the present configuration, information indicating themovement of the mobile terminal (for example, a location, distancetraveled, movement speed, and acceleration, etc.) is acquired by themovement information acquisition means, and whether or not the mobileterminal is moving is determined on the basis of the information by themovement determination means. If the determination result indicates thatthe mobile terminal is moving, the incoming call information is notdisplayed on the display means, and at the same time, the notificationof the notification means is set to invalid. That is, if there is anincoming call or reception by the mobile terminal during movement inthis state, a notification (for example, a notification sound,vibration, and lighting of an LED, etc.) indicating an incoming callthat requires communication, and the reception of character data, suchas an e-mail, is not made, and there is no display of any incoming callhistory on the screen of the display means, such as a display indicatingan incoming call or reception in progress, and characters and patternsindicating an incoming call. Therefore, the owner of the mobile terminalat the reception side (the receiver) is capable of moving safely withoutbeing distracted by incoming calls or reception by the mobile terminalduring the movement.

Further, in the above-described configuration, it is preferable thatwhen there is an incoming call to a mobile terminal that is determinedto be in movement by the movement determination means, the control meansautomatically returns, to a transmission-side terminal, a messageindicating that the mobile terminal is in movement through an automatedvoice or e-mail.

According to the present configuration, since a message (for example, ane-mail or a voice message) indicating the inability to take a call isautomatically sent to the transmission-side terminal by the controlmeans of the reception-side mobile terminal, the sender is capable ofknowing that the receiver is moving and thus in a state in which thereceiver is not capable of operating the mobile terminal. Therefore, thesender does not repeat the sending operation until a call is received atthe reception-side mobile terminal, or until a reply to the e-mail isreceived, because of which the receiver is capable of moving safelywithout being concerned about the incoming calls to the mobile terminal.

Further, in the above-described configuration, the movementdetermination means compares the movement speed determined from themovement information and the predetermined standard speed, anddetermines whether or not the movement speed is equal to or below thestandard speed, and

when the movement speed becomes equal to or below the standard speed,the control means calculates the movement time at the standard speed orbelow, and when the actual calculated period exceeds the set timeperiod, the control means preferably cancels the non-displayed settingof the incoming call information on the display means and the invalidsetting of a notification by the notification means.

According to the present configuration, for example, when the owner ofthe mobile terminal starts moving on foot after stopping from high-speedmovement by vehicle or getting off the vehicle, the non-displayedsetting on the display means and the invalid setting of the notificationare canceled automatically. Therefore, the owner need not cancel theinvalid setting by a manual operation.

Further, in the above-described configuration, a storage means ofstoring the reception information received during an incoming call isprovided, and when the control means cancels the non-displayed settingof the incoming call information on the display means and the invalidsetting of a notification, the control means preferably displaysinformation, on the display means, indicating that there was an incomingcall during movement on the basis of the incoming call informationstored in the storage means.

According to the present configuration, when the invalid setting iscanceled and the mobile terminal becomes possible to be used as usual,the owner is capable of knowing that there was an incoming call duringmovement from the incoming call information (for example, characters orpatterns) displayed on the screen of the display means. Therefore, thereceiver is capable of immediately replying to the sender.

Moreover, in the above-described configuration, the mobile terminalfurther comprising:

a second communication means of performing radio communication with adesignated sending and receiving means,

the control means connects to the sending and receiving means designatedvia the second communication means, and

when a connection with the sending and receiving means is detected, thecontrol means preferably cancels non-displayed setting of incoming callinformation on the display means, and invalid setting.

According to the present configuration, the sending and receiving meansdesignated via the second communication means, for example, a microphoneand a speaker function are comprised, and when an owner uses a headsetby which handsfree calling is enabled, and onboard handsfree through acar audio or a car navigation system, it is possible to effectively usea voice call and voice input that do not require the direct manualoperation of the mobile terminal.

Further, in the above-described configuration, it is preferable thatwhen the control means detects a connection with the sending andreceiving means via the second communication means, the control meanscancels the non-displayed of the incoming call or reception informationon the display means, and thereafter, sends, by the first communicationmeans, to another mobile terminal, cancellation information forcanceling the non-displayed setting on the display means.

For example, the terminal means for enabling a handsfree calling isgenerally restricted to a connection with a mobile terminal designatedthrough a short-range radio, for example Bluetooth (registeredtrademark), and thus, as for the other mobile terminals possessed by thefellow passengers of the vehicle, incoming call display on the displaymeans is set to non-displayed and at the same time, the notification isset to invalid. However, according to the present configuration, sincethe cancellation information (a cancellation key) is sent from themobile terminal connected to the sending and receiving means to theother mobile terminal of a fellow passenger, by entering the receivedcancellation information to the other mobile terminal, no restriction isapplied to the use of the mobile terminal of the fellow passenger evenduring movement by vehicle, and it is possible to use the mobileterminal of the fellow passenger as usual.

In addition, in the above-described configuration, a third communicationmeans of exchanging data, by radio, with another mobile terminal thatexists in a predetermined range, is provided and

the control means preferably sends, to the other mobile terminal that isconnectable through the third communication means, cancellationinformation for canceling the non-displayed setting on the displaymeans, and the invalid setting of a notification.

According to the present configuration, when the mobile terminalpossessed by a fellow passenger has the third communication means (forexample, a wireless LAN), an automatic interconnection is possible to beestablished with a plurality of mobile terminals (Passing-bycommunication), and the cancellation information is sent automatically,by the radio, from the mobile terminal of the driver that is connectedto the sending and receiving means, to the mobile terminal of anotherfellow passenger. Therefore, by entering the cancellation informationinto the other mobile terminal, no restriction is applied to the use ofthe mobile terminal of the fellow passenger even during movement byvehicle, and it is possible to use the mobile terminal of the fellowpassenger as usual.

Further, an invention described below is provided.

A mobile terminal having a call function or a texting function,comprising: a first communication means of calling or exchanging messagedata,

a display means of displaying various types of information;

a notification means of notifying an incoming call;

a movement information acquisition means of acquiring informationindicating movement of the mobile terminal;

a movement determination means of determining whether or not the mobileterminal is moving on the basis of information acquired by the movementinformation acquisition means; and

a control means of setting a display of incoming call informationindicating an incoming call in a non-displayed manner on the displaymeans, when the mobile terminal is determined to be moving by themovement determination means.

In addition, an invention described below is provided.

It is possible to provide the mobile terminal with a call function and atexting function according to claim 1, such that a plurality ofcategories determined by the movement determination means are setbeforehand depending on a movement speed of the mobile terminal inmovement, and the control means makes an invalid setting for a functionfor making different invalid settings depending on a category that isstored in accordance with the category corresponding to a movement speeddetermined by the movement determination means and that includes thefunction for displaying.

In this case, the invalid setting is made in accordance with themovement speed, and therefore, the control means is capable ofcontrolling different settings depending on an influence on thesurroundings and a risk while preventing obstruction to the convenienceof the user. It is possible to avoid problems such as becoming not ableto use the mobile terminal in Shinkansen, where using the mobileterminal is not a problem, due to invalidation of a uniform functionsince the mobile terminal is in movement. When restricting a gameoperation, texting, or calling during walking, it is necessary to ensurethat the user is not capable of changing the function for making invalidsetting as described in the present invention. In such a case, thepresent invention is further capable of restricting the function formaking invalid setting for each movement speed, and thus, the presentinvention becomes more useful.

According to the mobile terminal of the present invention, it ispossible to restrict a trigger by which the user of the mobile terminalends up passively operating the mobile terminal due to a desire to usethe mobile terminal, and as a result, it is possible to prevent the useof the mobile terminal by a manual operation because of an incoming callduring movement.

Further, the present invention also provides an invention describedbelow.

(A) A game program executed on a mobile terminal with a call function ora texting function, and a function capable of executing a game,comprising:

a communication means of calling or exchanging message data;

a display means of displaying various types of information;

a notification means of notifying an incoming call;

a movement information acquisition means of acquiring informationindicating movement of the mobile terminal;

a movement determination means of determining whether or not the mobileterminal is moving on the basis of information acquired by the movementinformation acquisition means;

an operation means of executing a game;

a storage means of housing the game program; and

a control means of storing game history information related to a gamescreen that is executed by a game program housed in the storage means,and at the same time, prohibiting an update of a display or setting theupdate in a non-displayed manner on the display means of the game thatis executed by the game program, when the mobile terminal is determinedto be moving by the movement determination means, such that the gameprogram is controlled by the control means, and by executing the gameprogram on the control means, the processes described below areexecuted.

A process of generating a game screen for displaying on the displaymeans, and

a process of generating game history information related to a gamescreen that is executed by a game program housed in the storage meansfor storing in the storage means, when the mobile terminal is determinedto be moving by the movement determination means.

(B) A game method that executes programs such as a program that ispre-installed or a game program that is downloaded in a mobile terminalwith a call function or a texting function, and a function capable ofexecuting a game, comprising:

a process of downloading the game program by a communication means thatperforms calling or exchange of message data of the mobile terminal;

a process of executing the downloaded game program by a control means,and displaying, on a display means connected to the control means,various types of game screens, the game screens are information forprompting further operation by an operation means; and

a process of acquiring information indicating movement of the mobileterminal, and when the mobile terminal is determined to be moving on thebasis of a result of determining whether or not the mobile terminal ismoving, prohibiting an update or setting the update to be non-displayedon a game screen for displaying on the display means, while storing gamehistory information related to the game screen. A process of generatinggame history information related to a game screen that is executed by agame program housed in the storage means for storing in the storagemeans, when the mobile terminal is determined to be moving by themovement determination means.

The game history information is automatic backup data for enabling agame to be played in continuity when the game is played the next timedue to the fact that the display of the game screen prompting furthergame input on the display screen was either not updated or not displayedas a result of detection of movement.

Further, an invention described below is provided.

In a game program included in a mobile terminal, the mobile terminalcomprises:

a communication means;

a display means of displaying various types of information;

a mobile information acquisition means of acquiring informationindicating movement of the mobile terminal;

a movement determination means of determining whether or not the mobileterminal is moving and is changing in movement speed on the basis of theinformation that is acquired by the movement information acquisitionmeans;

an operation means for executing a game;

a storage means; and

a control means of controlling each of the means, and the game program,while being stored in the storage means, causes the control means of themobile terminal to execute the following process:

a process of, when the mobile terminal is determined to be moving by themovement determination means, according to any one of a plurality ofcategories to which the preset movement speed of the mobile terminalbelongs, prohibiting or setting and restricting in a non-display manner,an update of a display of a game screen employing display data that isgenerated by the game program and prompts an input of a game.

In addition, in the invention, the plurality of categories include: afirst speed having a predetermined speed; and a second speed that ishigher than the first speed, and

the game program executes the following processes:

a process of restricting the update of the game screen when the movementspeed of the mobile terminal is determined to be the first speed; and

a process of releasing control which restricts the update of the gamescreen so that the game can be executed even while in movement when themovement speed of the mobile terminal is determined to be the secondspeed.

Further, a game control method of executing a program such as a programthat is pre-installed or a game program that is downloaded in a mobileterminal with a call function or a texting function, and a functioncapable of an executing a game, comprises the following processes:

a process of downloading the game program by a communication means ofcalling or exchanging message data, of the mobile terminal;

a process of executing the downloaded game program by the control means,and according to a game operation exerted by the operation means that isconnected to the control means, causing the display means that isconnected to the control means to display a variety of game screens,information prompting a further operation exerted by the operationmeans; and

a process of acquiring information indicating movement of the mobileterminal, determining whether or not the mobile terminal is moving, andaccording to any one of the preset categories to which the movementspeed of the mobile terminal belongs, prohibiting or setting andrestricting in a non-display manner, an update of a display of the gamescreen employing display data that is generated by the game program andprompts an input of a game.

The game control method as described above is characterized in that theplurality of categories include: a first speed having a predeterminedspeed; and a second speed that is higher than the first speed, and thecontrol means restricts the update of the game screen when the movementspeed of the mobile terminal is determined to be the first speed, andreleases control which restricts the update of the game screen so thatthe game can be executed even while in movement when the movement speedof the mobile terminal is determined to be the second speed.

In still another modification example, as an appropriate measure fordisallowing the play of a game while in movement, unless the mobileterminal stops or is at a movement speed that is substantiallyapproximate to the stopped state, awarding of a more advantageous pointis disallowed in a game that is awarded according to a game result, oralternatively, a lower point is merely allowed to be awarded even if thesame game result is obtained, thereby making it possible to restrict theplay of the game while in movement.

More specifically, the following configuration is provided.

That is, in a game program executed by a control unit of a mobileterminal, the mobile terminal comprises:

a communication unit;

a display unit of displaying various types of information;

a movement information reception unit of acquiring informationindicating movement of the mobile terminal;

a movement determination unit of determining whether or not the mobileterminal is moving and is changing in movement speed on the basis of theinformation that is acquired by the movement information reception unit;an operation unit for executing a game;

an operation unit for executing a game

a storage unit; and

a control unit of controlling each of the units, and

the game program, while being stored in the storage unit, causes thecontrol unit of the mobile terminal to execute the following processes:

a process of, when the mobile terminal is determined to be moving by themovement determination unit, setting point data according to thedetermined movement speed, the point data being stored so as to beassociated with each of the preset movement speeds of the mobileterminal; and

a process of employing items of point data that are different from eachother according to the movement speed to thereby execute point awardingaccording to a result obtained after display data that is generated bythe game program and prompts an input of a game is displayed, and thegame is then input by employing the operation unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminalaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a communication mode of the mobileterminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile terminal inmovement according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile terminal inmovement according to a modification.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a connection state between mobile terminalsand between the mobile terminals and a car navigation system accordingto the modification.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a setting process of an unlocking functionbetween mobile terminals including the car navigation system accordingto the modification.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a processing flow of awarding points that aredifferent from each other according to a movement speed in a game of themodification example, and that are different from each other even if thesame game result is obtained.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that inthe drawings according to the present embodiment, description isprovided by using a smartphone as an example of a mobile terminal;however, the mobile terminal of the present invention is not limited toa smartphone, and includes, for example, a feature phone and a tablet,or the like, as long as calling and exchange of data are available.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the mobile terminal.

A mobile terminal 1 is configured by an antenna 2, a GPS receiver 3, anantenna 4, a communication unit 5, a controller 6, a storage unit 7, anoperation unit 8, a display unit 9, a voice codec unit 10, a speaker 12,a microphone unit 11, and the like. In addition, the controller 6comprises a movement determination unit 13. Hereinafter, eachconfiguration will be described in detail. Further, a clock unit that isnot shown in the figure is connected to the controller 6. It ispreferable that the clock unit generally uses a crystal oscillator. Theoperation unit 8 is used to enter a telephone number, enter a callbutton, and perform character input for creating an e-mail or the likefor performing texting.

The GPS receiver 3 acquires location information from a GPS radio wavereceived by the antenna 2. The location information is information aboutthe latitude and the longitude that is sent through the GPS radio wavefrom a GPS satellite 20 shown in FIG. 2. The GPS receiver 3 acquires thelocation information on the basis of an instruction by the controller 6.It is noted that the GPS receiver 3 corresponds to the movementinformation acquisition means of the present invention.

The communication unit 5 is configured by a first communication unit 5A,a second communication unit 5B, and a third communication unit 5C. Asshown in FIG. 2, the first communication unit 5A selects a signalfrequency received from a base station 30 of a contract communicationscarrier, amplifies the frequency by performing frequency conversion, anddemodulates and outputs the reception data to the controller 6. Inaddition, the first communication unit 5A modulates the transmissiondata output from the controller 6, amplifies the data as a carrier waveof a specified frequency, and then sends the data from the antenna 4.That is, the mobile terminal 1 according to the present embodiment isconfigured to perform communication with the base station 30 via thefirst communication unit 5A and the antenna 4 through the control of thecontroller 6.

The second communication unit 5B enables intercommunication with varioustypes of terminals including a mobile terminal with the secondcommunication unit 5B of the same specification through short-rangeradio. Examples of the second communication unit 5B include, forexample, units such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), IrDA, etc.Further, each terminal that is connected according to the presentembodiment includes, for example, a headset by which handsfree callingis enabled, and onboard handsfree through a car audio or a carnavigation system. It is noted that these terminals correspond to thesending and receiving means of the present invention.

The third communication unit 5C has a longer communication distance thanthe second communication unit 5B, and is configured by a wireless LANmodule, etc. that performs wireless LAN communication with anothermobile terminal and an access point of a wireless LAN.

It is noted that the first communication unit 5A, the secondcommunication unit 5B, and the third communication unit 5C respectivelycorrespond to the first communication means, the second communicationmeans, and the third communication means of the present invention.

The controller 6 executes general controls related to the mobileterminal 1, for example, voice processing, data exchange processing,input-related processing, display processing, and invalid settingprocessing of a specific function.

The voice processing processes the reception data output from the firstcommunication unit 5A, and outputs a voice signal to the voice codecunit 10. Further, the controller 6 converts the voice signal output fromthe voice codec unit 10 to transmission data, and outputs thetransmission data to the first communication unit 5A.

The data exchange processing executes various programs (applications)such as e-mails, chats, instant messages, the Internet, etc., anddisplays data that is received automatically and stored in a storageunit, and also performs data conversion and transmission of the enteredcharacter data, such as e-mails.

The input-related processing sends, to each unit, various commands basedon the input information from the operation unit 8 made of physical keyssuch as a home key that is used to return to a home screen of anapplication, a volume button, and a power button, etc., and a displayunit 9 having a function of a touch panel.

The display processing performs the display of information displayed onthe display unit 9, such as the display of the OS (Operating System) andthe display of applications.

It is noted that the processing for making an invalid setting for aspecific function in the controller 6 will be described in detail laterin the description of an operation.

The movement determination unit 13 determines the movement start and themovement stop of the mobile terminal 1. In other words, the movementdetermination unit 13 determines whether or not the mobile terminal 1 isin movement. In the present example, by using the clock unit, thelocation information that is acquired sequentially by the GPS receiver 3is temporarily stored in a predetermined region of the storage unit 7either sequentially or at a predetermined time interval, the locationinformation is read in each predetermined time interval, a distancebetween two points is determined from the location coordinates includedin the location information, and moreover, the actual movement speed isdetermined from the distance and the movement time between the twopoints. In addition, in the present example, a standard speed that isstored beforehand in the storage unit 7 by categorizing into movementspeeds in accordance with moving objects, and the actual movement speedare compared by the movement determination unit 13, and the movingobject is specified.

The standard speed according to the present embodiment is, for example,categorized into movements by walking, and movements by vehiclesincluding bicycles and cars. Specifically, 18 km/h corresponds to theaverage speed of a bicycle. The general movement speed of a bicycle isfrom 16 km/h to 35km/h. Therefore, a bicycle running at a movement speedthat is equal to or faster than 18 km/h, that is, a bicycle moving at ahigh speed is included in cars.

The voice codec unit 10 converts the voice signal output from thecontroller 6 to an analog signal, and outputs voice from the speaker 11.Further, the voice codec unit 10 performs A/D conversion of the voiceinput from the microphone unit 12 to a PCM signal, and outputs the sameto the controller 6.

Next, the processing for making an invalid setting for a specificfunction in the mobile terminal 1 will be described in detail in linewith the flowchart shown in FIG. 3. It is noted that in the presentembodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 1 is configured toacquire location information from the GPS satellite 20, and also to becapable of connecting to a center system 50 via the base station 30 anda public network 40. Further, in the present embodiment, the descriptionis provided for a case, as an example, in which all functions of themobile terminal 1 are possible to be used in a stopped state and whilewalking; however, an invalid setting may be made for the use of aspecific function by considering walking as movement.

First of all, the mobile terminal 1 is considered to be in a state inwhich a high-speed movement is not performed, and all functions arepossible to be used (step S10). That is, the mobile terminal 1 is in astate capable of notifying an incoming call through a ringtone for ane-mail or call by the speaker, or through vibration of the vibrator.Further, the mobile terminal 1 is in a state capable of displaying andentering information on the display unit 9.

The controller 6 sequentially receives the location information by theGPS receiver 3, and temporarily stores the information in apredetermined region of the storage unit 7. Further, the movementdetermination unit 13 reads the location information during receptionand the location information five seconds before the reception, from thestorage unit 7, at a predetermined time interval (for example, fiveseconds), and determines whether or not the mobile terminal 1 will startmoving (step S20). That is, the movement determination unit 13determines the distance between two points from the location information(the location coordinates) of two sites, and then determines the actualmovement speed from the distance and the movement time. Once the actualmovement speed is determined, the movement determination unit 13 refersto the category table of the standard speed that is stored in thestorage unit 7, and determines the category to which the actual movementspeed belongs.

When the determination result belongs to the category of being stoppedor during walking, and high-speed movement has not started, theprocessing of step S20 is repeated. When it is determined according tothe determination result that a high-speed movement has started, aspecific function of the mobile terminal 1 is set to an invalid setting(step S30). That is, the controller 6 sets the notification function toinvalid, and at the same time, sets some of the display functions toinvalid. Specifically, the controller 6 sets these notificationfunctions by the ringtone for an e-mail or call, or by the vibration ofthe vibrator, to invalid. Further, non-displayed setting is made bywhich the incoming call history due to the receipt of calls, and thedisplay indicating the reception of an e-mail are not displayed at allon the screen of the display unit 9. That is, the display unit 9displays the screen of the initial state or the screen at the time ofthe final operation. In the category table of the standard speed, eachof the functions for making an invalid setting corresponding to eachcategory (a category corresponding to different speeds, such as alow-speed movement during walking, or a high-speed movementcorresponding to the movement by car, or a super high-speed movementcorresponding to the Shinkansen, etc.) is associated in a differentmanner. As a result, it is possible to individually change a function tomake an invalid setting during walking and a function to set an invalidsetting during a high-speed movement. For example, in cases where 18km/h to 200 km/h or below is considered as the high-speed movement, allfunctions are set to invalid, such as invalidation of the displayfunction and invalidation of the notification function as describedabove, or in some circumstances, all functions are stopped byinvalidating the power supply; however, in cases where a person isassumed to be inside a Shinkansen train moving at a super high-speed of200 km/h or more, all functions except the notification function byvoice are set to a non-invalid setting. This is because normally, a cardoes not run at a speed of 200 km/h or more, and if tentatively, a caris assumed to run at a speed of 200 km/h on Autobahn, etc., a person isnot expected to perform input operations of the situation of the phoneduring such a super high-speed movement, and the possibility of makingcalls, creating e-mails, and playing games inside a Shinkansen trainmatch the desire of the user. That is, rather than setting the samefunctions to invalid for all kinds of movement, by adopting aconfiguration that is set by a table data in which the functions to beset invalid depending on the movement speed are stored beforehand, thecontrol means makes an invalid setting for the functions to be setinvalid that are associated with each of a plurality of categoriescategorized depending on the movement speed.

The functions to be invalid as described above also include cutting offthe power, that is, the invalid setting for invalidating the powersupply. In the present invention, when all functions as the mobileterminal are set to be invalid tentatively, it is advantageous to makethe invalid setting for the power by turning OFF the power source evenfrom the viewpoint of saving the battery.

In addition, as an above-described invalid setting, it is also possibleto have a configuration in which the antenna function is set to invalid.In this case, the situation is the same as when the function ofreceiving a call and receiving an e-mail are automatically set toinvalid, but it is possible to make preparations for sending an e-mail.Thus, as long as the operation unit 8, which is an input means such as atouch panel, is not used actively, problems such as those described insection of the problems of the present invention do not occur. Here, theindirect and passive triggers that compel the user to use the mobileterminal 1 are assumed to be the reception of an e-mail, and beingforced to reply upon being contacted by a third person to communicateover an SNS. And as for the above-described triggers, since the functionfor the action of whether or not to receive a call is set to invalid, noproblem occurs as long as the user himself/herself does not actively usethe mobile terminal.

Next, the controller 6 monitors whether or not an incoming call or ane-mail is received when a specific function has been set to invalid(step S40). When no incoming call or an e-mail is received, thecontroller 6 repeats the processing of step S40, and monitors theexistence of an incoming call or e-mail. When an incoming call or ane-mail is received, the controller 6 stores the incoming callinformation in the storage unit 7 (step S50). That is, all the incomingcall information are stored in the storage unit 17, that are displayedon the display unit 9 when the mobile terminal 1 is available for normaluse. The incoming call information is general information, including acell phone number, e-mail address, and a number, etc. indicating thenumber of received incoming calls or e-mails received to be indicated onan icon for activating the application for calls or e-mails. The entireincoming call information is stored in the storage unit 7, and is notdisplayed on the display unit 9 when a movement is determined.

While such a state is retained, the movement determination unit 13continues to monitor whether the mobile terminal 1 is in a high-speedmovement by bicycle or by car, or whether or not the high-speed movementhas stopped (step S60). That is, same as the determination of movementstart, the movement determination unit 13 determines whether or not themobile terminal 1 is moving by determining the actual movement speed ofthe mobile terminal 1 at a predetermined interval. That is, when theactual movement speed is less than the standard speed, and thepredetermined time that has been decided beforehand has elapsed, themovement determination unit 13 assumes that the mobile terminal 1 isstopped or during walking, and thus, determines that the movement isstopped. When the actual movement speed is equal to or more than thestandard value, the movement determination unit 13 determines the mobileterminal 1 is in movement.

Here, the movement determination unit 13 calculates the speed ofmovement, but what is important in the present invention is that firstlydetecting the state of movement by using a sensor such as anacceleration sensor 3′, etc. described later, and secondly categorizingthe movement depending on the movement speed, and applying a restrictionof an invalid setting in accordance with the category. For example,according to the present invention, as far as the categories areconcerned, when the movement is categorized into a speed at which theowner himself/herself is operating a bicycle, or walking (category 1), astrict invalid setting is made (a state in which all functions thatwould be operated by the user are set to invalid, such as automaticallyturning OFF the power, etc. in some circumstances), when the speed isslower than the category 1 (substantially stopped: Category 2), allfunctions are enabled, and when moving at a speed faster than thecategory 1 (traveling on a public transportation means or driving a car,etc.), some functions are set to invalid as a less strict invalidsetting compared to the category 1.

When the movement determination unit 13 determines that the movement hasstopped, the controller 6 cancels the invalid setting (step S70). Thatis, the controller 6 enables the use of all the usual functions. Inaddition, the controller 6 displays the incoming call information, thatis prohibited to be displayed on the display unit 9 due to the invalidsetting and is stored in the storage unit 7, on the display unit 9 asusual. For example, the number indicating the number of receivedincoming calls or e-mails is superimposed and displayed on the icon forcalls and e-mails. By clicking such icons, each application isactivated, and thereby it is possible to check the cell phone number ofthe incoming call and contents of the e-mail. The series of processingthus ends.

Further, a game program capable of executing a social network game ishoused in the storage unit 7. Such a storage unit 7 may be a gameprogram that is downloaded via an Internet environment, or may be acartridge and a memory card. Then, when a user is playing a game byexecuting such a game program in the controller 6, and the movementdetermination unit 13 determines that the mobile terminal is moving, thecontroller 6 cooperates with the game program and performs controleither not to display the display data that is generated by the gameprogram on the display unit 9, or by not to update the display. In thiscase, in step S50, same as the case when the incoming call informationis stored in the storage unit 7, the game history in a state that thedisplay related to the game is restricted is stored in the storage unit7. Then, in step S70, when the controller 6 cancels the invalid setting,the controller 6 refers to the game history stored in the storage unit7, and switches to the updated game display screen that had moved aheadin the invalid state, or switches to the state in which the game ispossible to be executed from the state not capable of playing the gamedue to the invalid state. Such an updated game screen includes images inwhich characters using digital images are synthetically displayed byusing the AR (Augmented Reality) technology that is superimposed on thephotographing screen in conjunction with the camera.

According to the mobile terminal 1 of the present configuration, whenthe mobile terminal 1 is moving at a high speed by vehicle, the incomingcall information is set to non-displayed on the display unit 9, and thenotification function is set to invalid, and as a result, there is nonotification indicating an incoming call that requires communication, orindicating the reception of character data such as an e-mail, and theincoming call history, such as characters and patterns that indicate anincoming call or e-mail, is not displayed on the screen at all. Byintentionally setting a specific function to invalid in such a way, themobile terminal 1 hypothetically maintains the state of no incomingcalls, and therefore, the owner of the mobile terminal at the receptionside is capable of moving safely without being distracted by incomingcalls or e-mails on the mobile terminal 1 during movement. Further, whena game is being executed by an operation of the operation unit 8, and aperson is in a state where the person must move since a train hasreached the station, by making the setting to not display or update thegame screen, the person is prevented from playing the game duringmovement, and the reminder of a desire to play the game is prevented.

Further, since the non-displayed setting of the display unit 9 and theinvalid setting of notification are canceled automatically when ahigh-speed movement stops, the owner need not cancel the invalid settingby a manual operation.

In addition, when the invalid setting is canceled and the mobileterminal 1 is possible to be used as usual, the owner is capable ofknowing that there was an incoming call during movement from theincoming call information displayed automatically on the display unit 9.Therefore, the receiver is capable of immediately replying to thesender.

It is noted that the present invention is not limited to theconfiguration of the embodiment described above, and the configurationsdescribed below are also disclosed.

(1) The embodiment described above may be configured in a way such thatwhen an incoming call is received by a cell phone in step S40 shown inFIG. 4, after storing the incoming call information in step S50, amessage indicating the inability to take a call is sent automatically tothe sender in step S55. The message may be in any form, such as voicedata or an e-mail, etc. For example, the controller 6 determines whetheror not the cell phone number of the sender is registered in the contactlist, and if registered, the controller 6 reads the e-mail addressregistered in the contact list in relation with the cell phone number.In addition, the controller 6 pastes a pre-registered message in ane-mail body and sends the e-mail.

According to the present configuration, since a message indicating theinability to take a call is automatically sent to the transmission-sideterminal by the controller 6 of the reception-side mobile terminal 1,the sender is capable of knowing that the receiver is moving, and is ina state not capable of operating the mobile terminal. Therefore, thesender no longer repeats the sending operation.

(2) The embodiment described above may be configured in a way such thatif a predetermined condition is satisfied even in a high-speed movementby vehicle, the invalid setting of a specific function of the mobileterminal 1 is canceled. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when a driverand two other fellow passengers in a vehicle 110 have a mobile terminal1, 1A, and 1B respectively, each of the mobile terminals 1, 1A, and 1Bis connectable, by the second communication unit 5B, to an onboardhandsfree system loaded in the car navigation system 100.

The connection to a handsfree system through a short-range radio isgenerally restricted to one designated terminal. Therefore, in thepresent embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a case in which the mobileterminal 1 of the driver and the car navigation system are connectedwill be illustrated as an example to describe in detail a configurationfor canceling the invalid setting of a specific function of thein-vehicle mobile terminals 1 to 1B according to the processing flowshown in FIG. 6.

First of all, a predetermined operation and settings are made in themobile terminal 1 of the driver, and a connection request signalincluding an ID for model identification is sent to the car navigationsystem 100. The car navigation system 100 stores, in the storage unit, alist of terminals having a short-range radio function commonly availablein the market, and executes an authentication process to determinewhether or not the received ID is included in the list. If the same IDis included in the list, the car navigation system 100 sends anauthentication permission signal to the mobile terminal 1.

The mobile terminal 1 that is connected to the car navigation system 100upon receiving the authentication permission signal generatescancellation information (unlock key) for canceling the invalid settingof a specific function by the controller 6. In addition, the controller6 sends the generated cancellation key to each of the mobile terminals1A and 1B of the fellow passengers. It is noted that the cancellationkey is sent to each of the mobile terminals 1A and 1B of the fellowpassengers through an e-mail by the manual operation of the owner of themobile terminal 1. Alternatively, as shown by the dashed lines in FIG.5, the cancellation key may be sent automatically to a mobile terminalcapable of establishing a radio connection by the third communicationunit 5C within a predetermined range with the mobile terminal 1 as thecenter (Passing-by communication).

When the unlock key is received by the mobile terminals 1A and 1B, eachfellow passenger enters or copies the cancellation key to the settingscreen, and starts the processing for enabling unlocking of the invalidsetting of a specific function by the cancellation key. This completesthe initial setting of enabling cancellation of the invalid setting of aspecific function in the mobile terminals 1A and 1B of the fellowpassengers.

When movement start is determined by the movement determination unit 13within a predetermined time after the initial setting, the unlocking ofthe invalid setting is enabled at this time point. It is noted thattogether with the initial setting, the setting for not shifting to theinvalid setting of a specific function may be made.

Following this, the actual movement speed is monitored by the movementdetermination unit 13, and when becoming in the movement stopped stateand then the movement stopped state continues for the predeterminedtime, the enabling of unlocking of the invalid setting is ended. Theseries of processing is thus completed.

According to the present configuration, it is possible to effectivelyuse, during movement, a voice call and voice input that do not requirethe direct manual operation of the mobile terminal 1. Further, fellowpassengers other than the driver are also capable of using the mobileterminal as usual.

(3) In the embodiment described above, the determination of movementstart and/or in movement was made by using the movement speed; however,an acceleration may also be used for determination (see thedashed-dotted line in FIG. 1). If the determination of movement startand/or in movement is made on the basis of an acceleration by using anacceleration sensor 3′, the following advantages are provided. In thiscase, the movement information acquisition means of the presentinvention corresponds to the acceleration sensor. The accelerationsensor 3′ is a sensor 3′ that is permanently installed in the currentcell phone, and is used in pedometer applications, etc. Further, as theother sensor 3′, a proximity sensor, a luminance sensor, and a gyroscopeare usually provided as the current specification in the mobile terminal1.

The advantages of determining that the mobile terminal is in movement bythe acceleration sensor 3′ rather than using a GPS include the pointsdescribed below.

That is, (1) Particularly, with a GPS used for a maximum movement speedof 18 km/h or below, such as in the case of walking or riding a bicycle,etc., it is difficult to perform detection in real time. That is, sinceit is difficult to instantaneously determine if the mobile terminal ismoving, there is a possibility of receiving an incoming call or ane-mail because the functions that should be set to invalid by thecontrol means were considered to be invalid, but actually thosefunctions were not invalid. However, by adopting the acceleration sensor3′, it is possible to reduce such a possibility. Of course, a GPS may beused in combination to further improve the determination accuracy of themovement determination unit 13.

(2) In the case of a GPS, since the location of the mobile terminal 1 ischecked with the help of a radio wave from an artificial satellite,there is a problem that the GPS may not react at locations such asinside tunnels where radio waves do not reach. Indeed, the inability toreceive a radio wave of an artificial satellite implies that there is noreception of e-mails and no reception of calls, and therefore, it isbelieved that the above-described problems relating to the presentinvention do not occur; however, as soon as the mobile terminal moves toa location where reception is enabled, e-mails and calls are likely tobe received. Such a problem is avoided by using the acceleration sensor3′.

MODIFICATION EXAMPLE

As a means of preventing the reminder of a psychological desire to playthe game described in the embodiment while in movement, the problem asdescribed hereinbefore is solved by prohibiting a change related to amatter that is essentially associated with an input of a game such as apartial change of an update of a display of a game screen, oralternatively, prohibiting the display of the game screen per se. Inaddition to such a means, however, a point to be awarded may be set soas to be higher when a game is played while not in movement.

In the case of this modification example, in the storage unit of FIG. 1,in the game program, point values according to a variety of missionssuch as the game records according to the range of the movement speedsas described previously are stored for changing the point valuesobtained according to the movement speed, and when a game is determinedto be played while not in movement by the movement determination unit13, the highest point value is displayed on the display unit withreference to the data stored in the storage unit. In addition, when themovement speed is determined to be between 18 km/h to 200 km/h, forexample, by the determination unit 13, the amount of points to beobtained is zero, or otherwise less than the points that can be obtainedwhen traveling at a speed that is less than 18 km/h. When it is presumedthat there is a movement inside the Shinkansen train that travels at anultra-high speed of 200 km/h or more, and the movement speed isdetermined by the determination unit 13 in such a manner that a playeris not playing a game, the control unit 6 executes the game program sothat a lower point can merely be obtained than that in a case where thegame is determined to be played while not in movement by the movementdetermination unit 13, and control of the point acquisition quantity isthereby executed.

The control of the point acquisition quantity is thus executed accordingto the movement speed; and therefore, even if the game screen displayedon the display unit 9 has been updated in such a manner that a gameplayer desires to play a game, it is possible to prompt an input of thegame after the user has interrupted the movement and then completelystopped.

That is, in the control unit 6, the game program is executed byoperation of the operation unit 8, and the game is started (S100).

When a movement is determined by the movement determination unit 13(S200; YES), it is determined that the movement speed belongs to astatic state that is a first group or belongs to a high speed movementstate that is a second group, or alternatively, belongs to an ultra-highspeed movement that is a third group (S300), and the point data of thedetermined group is then set (S400). This point data is stored in thestorage unit 7.

After the input of the game has been completed by the operation unit 8,when point awarding is determined in accordance with the flow of thegame, although not shown, the point value on the basis of the set pointdata is displayed on the display unit 9.

That is, in the game program executed by the control unit 6 of themobile terminal 1, the mobile terminal 1 comprises:

a communication unit 5;

a display unit 9 of displaying various types of information;

a movement information reception unit 3 of acquiring informationindicating movement of the mobile terminal 1;

a movement determination unit 13 of determining whether or not themobile terminal 1 is moving and is changing in movement speed on thebasis of the information that is acquired by the movement informationreception unit 3;

an operation unit 8 for executing a game;

a storage unit 7; and

a control unit 6 of controlling each of the units, and

the game program, while being stored in the storage unit 7, causes thecontrol unit 6 of the mobile terminal 1 to execute the followingprocesses:

a process of, when the mobile terminal 1 is determined to be moving bythe movement determination unit 13, setting point data according to thedetermined movement speed, the point data being stored so as to beassociated with each of the preset movement speeds of the mobileterminal 1, and

a process of, when display data that is generated by the game programand prompts an input of a game is displayed, employing items of pointdata different from each other according to the movement speed tothereby execute point awarding according to a result obtained when thegame is input by employing the operation unit.

If a movement speed increases, an item of point data is stored in thestorage unit 7 so as to be associated with the movement speed in such amanner that lower point data is merely acquired even if the same gameresult is obtained.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention has an industrial applicability for the purpose ofavoiding a dangerous act referred to as “smartphone walking”, bydetermining that a user of a mobile phone is in movement and thenrestricting a display of a trigger to prompt a further desire forinputting data to the mobile phone, when calling or exchanging messagedata is performed or when a game is played.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling the display ofinformation by a mobile terminal that includes a controller and adisplay unit, the method comprising: executing application processes bythe controller so as to generate application-related data, whichapplication processes include causing application-related images to bedisplayed in an application screen on the display unit based on theapplication-related data when display of the application-related imagesis enabled; while display of the application-related images is notenabled, continuing to execute the application processes by thecontroller to generate updated application-related data without causingapplication-related images to be displayed in the application screen;and when display of the application-related images becomes re-enabled,causing updated application-related images to be displayed in theapplication screen based on the updated application-related data;wherein a plurality of speed values are set in advance, and a differentlimiting process associated with the plurality of speed values isexecuted according to the speed detected by the speed detection unit.